WOW WHAT A NICE DECK!!!!!!!!!!!! Is that good enough? Very very nice, wish I had you for a neighbor..

DD

super spot for all kinds of entertainment and garden DECOR(AKA JUNK)

very nice deck!

Can you elaborate on the "coal mine portal" that you discovered? That seems like such an awesome story and i'd like to hear about it! I'd probably be happier about the thrill of discovering that an old mine shaft entrance was on my property than I would about my deck... well for a few days... then I'd be excited about my deck again! haha

:)

Anyways, I also like the wall that you build on the side of your deck.

Very very nice! What a great place to entertain friends & family. Good job.

I don't know what is so exciting about a mine portal, but sure :-) The intended swimming pool would have been a LOT easier than the deck! The deck is the size it is so that there would be little or NO yard maintenance.

When my wife and I bought this house, the 'cliff' that exists on the right side (facing the deck) was already in existence. This area was once a lot of things, but was a strip mine in the early 1900's. It then became an automotive and aircraft junk yard and then a trailer park (huricane magnet as I like to call them).

Them in the mid-90's the trailer park was emptied and a nice housing development went in. The area is totally out of any required permits so we can do whatever we want as long as the HOA doesn't go balastic, as they did when we started moving all the hillside out - but they all realize now that we have increased the value of their property by investing more than I want to admit into the place where we are going to grow older and die, as we can never get our investment back out.

One of the first problems we noticed was that the cliff was beginning to incroach on a corner of the house. Since the pool was planned, we hired a contractor who used three different excavators and took out in excess of 350 dump truck loads of hillside and rock.

The only problem encountered, other than the excavation costing more than then house, was when they hit what is estimated to be a 20 ton slab of actual Bluestone. Several thousand dollars worth of tools later, it was determined that the only way to break up the Bluestone would have been with explosives - and we did not even approach the homeowners assocation on that concept.

In the process of moving the cliff away from the house they bull dozed away in front of where the portal is. Not a mine shaft, but a portal that you could drive a truck through originally. The portal runs for several miles. The developer claims that they did not know it existed, though we have photographs of the contruction waste being shoved into this opening and down into the water.

They also exposed another 3 or 4 smaller portals that were really for ventilation only. A human could not enter them and we continue to stuff degradeable debris down them to thwart the vermon that like to go down them - though we have noticed a very LARGE groundhog that seems to hibernate in one :-)

Jumping ahead, we figured no big deal and they moved the excavators to the back to begin digging the in-ground pool. After two scoops of ground was taken out, it filled with water very quickly.

So we called the West Virginia Bureau of Mines in to inspect, once the pool company said that there was no way an inground pool would not float. I still don't understand that about a pool floating, but a geologist concurred. The BOM guy threw a probe into the portal (about a 6 foot drop) and announced that it contained 16-18 million gallons of fresh water. Not mine water and safe, as there is a water-shed of sort around and above it.

To clarify, a mine shaft runs down deep into the ground. A portal is a horizontal shaft that runs into a hill/mountain. My brother, also a geologist, put some kind of fish into it that live on mosquito larvae, so the water is not an issue and actually provides a nice waterfall kind of thing that when all this is done, we will shine colored spotlight on the slowly cascading water. This is to the right of the retaining wall and patio facing the deck.

I put up a 'coffin' shaped container with trellis in front of it, after the contractor pushed more material into and in front of it, and planted ivy in the hope that it will eventually cover the opening and climb the cliff. It may and it may not. Time will tell, but the temperature around the portal maintains a 55 - 60 degree, year around level.

Our only fear is that some adventorous child decides to 'explore' and I think I have made it as anti-kid proof as possible.

Anything else you want to know?

whew wee this huge. Looks terrific. Nice job. Now get all the neighbors in for a barn dance. WOW. Love it.

I too was curious about the mine portal. Neat story. Thanks for sharing. :)
Fab deck, too. :D

Amazing story and very nice deck.
kathy

If there was a roof on that baby..I'd be living on it!!!lol!Looks awesome!!! Great job!!! I just spend a bunch on my "outdoor projects" and now D?H isn't too happy with me...imagine...a wife spending her hard earned money on the yard instead of bling and baubles..and being mad about it?!? I always say...it's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission!lol! ps, our deck is rotting away..as Dh hasn't gotten to that project yet...it's only been 4yrs!!!!

Beautiful deck & wall!! So I take it to mean that the coal mine is under the mountain, not your house,don't quite get the water, where is it coming from? Can it flood your place? Anyway shaping up nicely!! Jan

That is the biggest, 'bestest' deck I've ever seen. WOW.
The amount of work is mind-boggling to me. And I was totally fascinated with the portal story. (living in the desert, anything to do with water is fascinating. LOL)
But seriously, its really interesting to learn what a portal is.

hugs, Karen

A massive wonderful and beautiful project.

Couple of ramdom thoughts and questions:
1. Judging from the pitch of you roof, I assume that your area has lots of snow. Have you considered snow load for the deck? I don't see supports in the middle. It's a very large deck.

2. Wood expands and contracts a lot. I don't see any expansion joins provided. Judging from the length of the wood, you could have structural issues at some point.

dcarch

Hey...where's the picture with the half naked guy standing on the deck?? Just kidding....I'm glad you're finally coming to the end...so I can come sit on it and drink lemonade with you and Holly!

You kept saying big deck but I had no idea just how big! Wow! Love it! Can't wait to see how you decorate it. sure hope the waterfall idea works out & it stays child safe.
Vickie

Yes. It is Big. Usens mountain folk don't lie or exaggerate. But, there is NO grass to cut and the leaves will just suck up into my blower/sucker! One neighbor suggested that in the winter I line the thing with 2X10's - put down a very large tarp and make it into a ice skating rink for the kids. I might just be stupid enough to think about that idea :-)

Three thingies here:

1) I added a couple more pictures to show the support of the deck - it is very well supported. We do have snow sometimes, but the shape of the roof is really more related to the cathedral ceilings.

2) All the wood was wet when applied, so it will not expand any further (at least I hope). If we do have problems, then I have already told some people that I am going to try to keep away that I have a 5 gallon can of gasoline and it will make one heck of a bonfire!

3) Marlene honey, don't you remember the reaction to me posting how to sex a turtle. Now how do you think everyone would react to seeing a half nekid, sweaty, sunburn old man holding his arms up so dry out his pits?

roflol

PS - As for decorating it - that is TOTALLY up to Mrs. NO. I can tell you that neither of us had a clue as to how EXPENSIVE patio furniture is!

Next picture is going to be from this weekend when I think we will experiment with putting up Oscar's waterslide on the portion that is DONE. She is going to LOVE it (I hope).

"the temperature around the portal maintains a 55 - 60 degree, year around level."

Hmmmm, it sure would be nice if you could pipe that air into the house to cut your air conditioning and heating costs...

Totally LOVE your deck and story!!!!!!!

Rita